Cigarette-case.



1. A. PAQUETTE;

'CIGARETTE CASE.4 'APPL'lcATIou/rnfen maiis. 191s..

Patented June 20, 1916.

WIWSSES:

JEROME A. PAQUETTE, or sT. Louis, MISSOURI.

CIGARETTE-CASE.

I mesmo.

Specification of Letters IPatent.

Pateiited June 20, 1916.

Application filed March 25, 1915. Serial No. 16,886.

To ZZ -zciom t may concern Be it known that l. limoni". A. PAQUETTE,vcitizen'of the llnited States, residing at St.

Louis, State of Missouri, have invented cer- 'tain new and usefulImprovements in Cig-- arette-Cases, of which the following is a full,clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming apart hereof. l

My invent-ion has relation to improvements in cigarette cases; and itconsists in the novel features of consti-notion more fully set forth inthe specilication andl A pointed out in the claim.

The object of my invention is toprovide a cigarette case from which thecigarettes may be discharged one at a time by a proper manipulation ofthe movable sectionscom- `prising the case.'

A further object is to provide a case which shall be simple, positive inits action, light, and durable; and rone possessing other advantagesbetter apparent from a detailed description of .theinvention inconnection with the accompanying` drawings, in

which- Figure 1 is a plan of the case withl parts broken away to exposethe interior; Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the 'sections of the jcase moved the necessary degree to effect the discharge of the terminalcigarette of the series confined in the case; Fig. tom end view ofthecase looking uptoward Fig. l. parts being broken away; Fig. 4 is aview of the delivery end of the case, being a projection of Fig. lturned one-hundred and eighty (180) degrees; Fig. 5 is atransversesection on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1 showl ing the case preparatory toeffecting adischargeI of a cigarette; and Fig. 6 1s' an inside l planview of the holder member or that 4which carries the cigarettes, theretracting spring being severed at va point intermediate itslength. v QHReferring to the drawings, l represents a box-like holder or containerhaving an ,outer wall a, an inner abbreviated opposite parallel wall b,side -walls c, 0, a bottom -wall d, and an upper lip or flange e, oneend of which is. removed or cut away so as to'leave a free passage-wayor recess i for the discharge of the cigarette fm.' To the bottom of theinside' of the wall c is riveted or otherwise secured one end of a strip2, which carries a pin p at point removed 'a suitable distance from therivetedfend of the strip, said pin having coupled thereto the inner endof a coiled contracting spring. 4.- whose outer end issecured to theupper terminal wall h. of the sliding lid or cover the wall h beingprovided with amarginal lip or flange t, which, together with the flangeu of one of the side walls fw' of the lid, and the abbreviated flange uof the opposite sidewall w of the lid, serves to form: a telescopingconnection ybetween the lid andthe holder. Any equivalent con.-

struction for effecting such telescoping or movable connection howeveris "contemplated by my invention. The upper wall li of the lid isprovided with an opening O opposite the recess r' for the free passageof the terminal cigarette of the series conined Ois equivalentsupporting member 5 normally engaging the bottom wall l of the holder or-in th'e case. The base of the wall w of the 'i lid, opposite thedischarge opening provided with a lip, tongue or platform or` containerwhen the container is closed, that is to say, when the members 1 and '3are.

drawn together under the action ofthe contracting spring 4. To readilyslide the lid along the holder, the latter is preferably provided'with athumbbearing '6, andthe lid with a finger bearing 7 as shown, the arrowsin Fig. 5 indicating the relative movement to which l.the members 1 and3 are'subjected to effect the discharge of a cigarette.

Secured 'by the same rivet 8 which secures the strip 2 to the wall c ofthe holder, is the adjacent end 'of a spring arm 9 whose opposite end isriveted to the outer end of a similar Spring arm 10 diverging there''from, the inner end of the last arm being secured to theadjacentterminal of a bearing strip or followerll, said follower being Anormally disposed in parallelism with the* side walls of the case,whereas the spring arms 9,-10, are normally divergent, spreading aparttoward the bottom-of the case.

The cigarettes are interposed betweenthe follower strip .1l vand theoppdsing wall c of the holder, which wall by the way is abbreviated soas to terminate at the free edge ofthe wall b, thereby leaving anopening A for 4ready access `to the terminal cigarette of thel series',so that said'cigarette may be lifted andinitially adjusted over theplatform .5 fois purposesl of ejection when thel case is subsequentlyoperated. This'initial 1 adjustment is sometimes necessary, especiallywhen the" case is first iilled with cigarettes and before -any have beendischarged;

The operation is substantially as follows: By sliding the lid 3suiiiciently to cause the flange u to clear the l.wall (tof the holder,

the latter may be withdrawn from undert'helflange u and sufficientlyseparated from thellid -(remainingconnected thereto how-1 ever by thespring 4 which readily stretches when the members 1 and 3 are thussepa,- rated) topermit the holder to'be lled with cigarettes. p Theseare placedv in suicient number between the follower strip 1l and theopposing wall the advancing springs or members 9, l0, closing orcontracting, to

a degree dependingon the number of cigarettes charged into the case.'When properly charged, the lid and holder are reassembled by insertingfirst one side ofthe holder'behind the'fiange u of the lid, and thenpassing the opposite side behind the tiangeu, and when subsequentlyreleased,v the spring it will automatically draw the holder into thelid, or what amounts to thesame thing, willA draw.v the lid over theholder, andclose the case. To make sure that .the rstv cigarette of the`series is over the platform 5, the smoker in first filling the case.inserts 'his iinger through the slot or opening A (pro vided for theaccommodation. of the platl form 5)- and raises thel end cigarette ifnecessary sufficiently to insure its being directly over said platformwhen the holder. and .lid

are assembled in the manner described. The case is' now charged fordispensing the cigarettes one at a time. rlhe smoker by seizing the casebetween his thumb and forefnger (Fig. 5) and separating the lidV fromthe holder, that-is tosay, sliding-the lid to open position along theholder. (Fig. Q) causes the cigarette which' is directly over theplatform 5 to become separated .from the main body of cigarettes storedin the holder 1, the

.cigarette thus separated (Fig. 2) being di- 'rectly in line with therecess r and the discharging opening O. yVhen the lid .and holder areallowed to vcontract or close` (under the contracting action of thespring t) the main Acharge of cigarettes are pushed back in the casetoward the top wall of the'lid; but so returning to their originalposition, they force .the cigarette which is.

on the platform 5, out of the'opening O, sufficiently to permit theprotrudingend of the cigarette thus projected, to be seized by thesmoker, and Withdrawn completely from ythe case. This being done, theVnext suc` ceeding cigarette of the series is forced into positionoverthe platforml 5 by the feed or dilating action of the advancingsprings 9,' 10, and like its predecessor is now in posi,

gtionto l be discharged or projected from the case in the same manuel'."The friction between the main body of clgarettes''and the' cigaretteionthe'platform y5 isisufficient to,

cause said cigarette to befpushed out of the l 6 ca'sevwhen the members1 and, 3 are drawn back to thelr normally closed or contracted jposition.

The' specific manner here shown 'for effecting the telescopicconnectionbetween the holder and lid;l or the specific springs hereillustrated for restoring or contracting the memberswhen once dilated orexpanded, or for advancing. or, feeding the charge of cigarettes; orthelv speciic follower' here-shown,

.and other details shown and described need not be adhered to, as the'deviceis susceptible fof many changes- .without .departing from thenature or spirit of my invention.

Obviously the invention vis not to be considered as'restricted todispensing cigarettes, butmay beapplied to other articles. The l*lid orcover need not -ofv course absolutely lconceal the contents of thepackage from view, the term lid or cover beinghereused'to designate anymember complementary to the holder .proper to form'therewith a completecase.

Having described my invention what I claim is: I

A cigarette dispensing case'comprising a holder having anv outer Wall,an inner abbreviated wall, bounding side Walls', a bottom wall, an upperinwardlyturn`ed lip, a

lid having an upperl flanged Wall, and sideA flanged .walls forreceiving the holder, an inwardly bent platform at ,one end of one ofthe side walls of the lid adapted to rest on the bottom of-theholder toreceive-in succession the cigarettes charged into the holder, the topWall of the lid having a dischargey opening opposite the'- platform, a

lcoiled contracting spring having its ends respectively coupledto thetop wall of the lid atthe end removed from the discharge opening, and tothe adjacent iside wall of the holder, a feed or advancing-'spring in'theholder having a pair of diverging varms one `ofwhichiss'ecured tothe side Wallof the Jos. A. "Mlonnn':

